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No. 594,093. Patented Nov. 23, 1 897.

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W. McNAUL.

ENVELOP.

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UNITED ST TES- PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM MONAUL, or BRADLEY, CALIFORNIA.

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 594,093, dated November 23, 1897.

Application filed November 21, 1896. Serial No. 613,019. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM McNAUL, a' citizen of the United States, residing at Bradley, in the county of Monterey and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Envelops; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which This invention has reference to a novel construction in an envelop, the object being to provide an envelop with sealing devices constructed in such a manner that when the envelop has once been sealed it cannot be opened without detection.

The invention consists in the features of construction hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a plan view of an envelop constructed in accordance with this invention in the position it will appear before being folded. Fig. 2 is a plan of the end portion of the inner flap after being folded to form a pocket. Fig. 3 is a view of the envelop with the flaps partially folded and showing the manner in which the folding is done. Fig. 4-is a section on the line44 of Fig. 2 and taken on an enlarged scale. Fig. 5 is a similar section showing the parts in the position they will assume when the envelop is sealed. Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a section of the envelop when folded and taken through the sealing on an enlarged scale, of the clasp.

In accordance with the principle involved by this invention an envelop is so constructed that the outer or sealing flap is provided with atongue which passes through the other flaps and into a pocket upon the inner flap, within which it is securely fastened by means hereinafter to be described. The securing of this tongue can be accomplished by employing one or more of these securing devices, and it will be understood that although in the following description the various forms are described, yet it will be understood that in accordance with the principle one or more can not limited to the employment of any particular one of these securing devices except in 1 4; These flaps are to be folded in the order in which they are numbered, as shown in Fig. 3. The flap l is therefore the inner flap and is provided at its outer end with a pocket 5, formed by bending the extension 6 of said flap 1 inwardly and securing it at one side, preferably by mucilage. The said extension 6 is angular, so that it forms a tapering pocket open at both ends and with its smaller end adjacent the upper edge of the envelop. In the outer side of this pocket when the flap 1 is folded is a transverse slot 7, to receive the tongue of the outer flap 4, while the front and rear side of the pocket below this slot 7 is provided with a number of small openings or perforations 8, to be referred to hereinafter.

Secured to the upper edge of the extension 6 and situated on the inner face of the pocket 5 when the inner flap 1 is folded is a clasp 9, having a tongue 10, by means of which it is secured to the upper edge of said extension. The said clasp is made of thin metal and concave on its inner face and provided with arms 11, which serve to hold the said inner face away from the inner side of the pocket. The said clasp is also provided on its inner face with a plurality of inwardly-extending teeth 12. A clasp constructed in this/manner, it will be seen, will hold the teeth 12 away from the side of the pocket and is so arranged that pressure upon the said clasp will cause the said teeth 12 to pass through the sides of the pocket or through the part in front of the same, and it is intended to clench these teeth by means of the plate 13 upon the tongue of the outer flap, said plate 13 having its inner face, or that part that comes in contact with the teeth, concaved, so that the teeth after striking this plate will be turned inwardly and thus clenched. The second flap 2 is a side flap and overlaps the end of the inner flap 1 and is preferably pasted thereto. The said flap 2 is provided with a slot 14:, that registers with the slot 7 after being folded. The third flap 3 is at the bottom of the envelop and overlaps the lower edges of the flaps 1 and 2 and is preferably pasted thereto IOO in the usual manner and is provided with a slot 15 to register also with the slots 14c and '7 when folded. The outer flap 4 is provided with a tongue 16, that is adapted to pass through the slots 15, 14:, and 7 and to enter the pocket 5. This tongue, it will be seen, can be provided with adhering material, and being moistened before being inserted into the pocket will adhere to the sides of the pocket and thus prevent the envelop being opened without mutilating the parts thereof. It will be understood, further, that when the clasp 9 is used the plate 13 is secured to the outer side of the tongue and situated to cover the teeth of the clasp when the envelop is sealed, so that by giving a sharp blow upon this plate the teeth 12 of the clasp are caused to pass through the sides of the pocket and the tongue, and, being clenched, it will be seen that the tongue is securely held against removal.

Additional means are illustrated for holding the tongue in place, which consist of teeth 17 upon said tongue, which extend laterally and rearwardly from the sides thereof. These anchoring-teeth 17 are made of thin metal and are flexible enough to bend inwardly when the tongue is being inserted into the slots and into the pocket, so that any attempt to withdraw the tongue will cause these teeth to engage the sides of the pocket and thus prevent the removal of the tongue without injury thereto. The said anchoring-teeth are long and short, it being intended for the long teeth to engage the edges of the pocket, while the short teeth are intended to engage the openings 8 and sides of the pocket.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that an envelop constructed as described can be securely sealed, in the first place, by the pocket and tongue only, with said-tongue pasted to the sides of the pocket. Furthermore, the above construction can be employed in connection with the clasp or with the anchoring-piece, and, further, that the tongue can be provided with the anchoring-teeth and be secured in connection with the clasp and paste also. It will be noticed that this mode of sealing can be applied to envelops varying in size and shape and that a plurality of these sealing devices can be employed in connection with one envelop, if found desirable.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An envelop consisting of a body portion, an inner flap having a pocket that is closed at its sides, second and third flaps secured to said inner flap and to each other, registering slots in said flaps leading to said pocket, and an outer flap provided with a tongue to pass through said slots and enter said pocket, said tongue being provided with teeth adapted to stick into and enter the material forming the side of said pocket.

2. An envelop consisting of a body portion, an inner flap having a pocket which tapers toward its upper end, said pocket being closed at its sides, second and third flaps secured to said inner flap and to each other, registering slots in said flap leading to said pocket, said slots being situated adjacent to the small end of the pocket, and an outer flap provided with a tongue to pass through said slots and enter said pocket, said tongue being provided with teeth adapted to stick into and enter the material forming the sides of said pocket.

3. An envelop consisting of a body portion provided with an inner flap'havinga tapering pocket, openings in the sides of said pocket, a slot in the outer side of said pocket, a flap 2 provided with a slot, a flap 3 provided with a slot, and an outer flap 4 provided with a tongue adapted to enter said slots and pocket and provided with long and short anchoringteeth, substantially as described.

4:. In an envelop, a plurality of flaps folded upon each other and provided with slots and a pocket, said pocket being closed at its side edges, an outer flap having a tongue adapted to extend through said slots and into said pocket, said tongue having rearwardly-ezn tending teeth to engage the walls of said pocket, substantially as described.

5. In an envelop, a plurality of flaps folded upon each other and provided with slots and a pocket, a clasp secured to the inner side of 'said pocket and provided with teeth 12 exing witnesses.

WILLIAM MoNAUL. Witnesses:

F. KNIGHT, H. H. HARRIS. 

